Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The direct award contracts for the provision of public service obligation, PSO, bus market services held by Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann expire later this year.  The awarding of subsequent contracts is the statutory responsibility of the National Transport Authority, NTA.  All Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann routes will be included in the new five year direct award contracts which the NTA will enter into with the companies next December.  However, the NTA has announced that up to 10% of publicly subvented bus services will only remain within the direct award contracts until the end of 2016, after which they will be operated under separate contracts that will have been competitively tendered for.  The overall level of tendering is very modest. The contracts will go to the best competent tenderer and I expect both Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann to apply for such tenders. The NTA expects that  the procurement process for the routes to be tendered will begin in December 2014, leading to the award of the contracts in March 2016, with the successful operator or operators commencing services in late 2016.

 In the case of either Dublin Bus or Bus Éireann not being successful in the competitive process, staff would be protected under the European Communities (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003, TUPE. These issues need to be addressed by the NTA and the bus companies through constructive engagement with the unions in the course of the procurement process in the next two years. Following a meeting I, ith the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Leo Varadkar, held with unions representing Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann workers last November we asked the NTA to put a structured engagement process with unions in place. I understand the NTA met the NBRU and SIPTU unions in January and March this year and consultation continues.

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